Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-08-26
STORY OF A TORNADO.


Stepping upon Boston Shawmut avenue
horse car a few days since says writer in
the Youths Companion | was surprised to
recognize an old acquaintance in the con
ductor, who L supposed, was herding sheep
in Dakota. why, Brown, you here!n ! ex-
claimed. "How's this;n Where are your
Sheep My sheep left me-, said he
with a jerk at the fare Indicator sold
outY' | inquired. mo; got jumped ;"
Jumped! what jumped you;' | asked.
well, you see it was about like this, - re
piled my friend; and he gave me the fol-
lowing account of his Western experience:
In June last l had 2400 ewes with their
lambs. | looked after them carefully every
day to keep off the coyotes, and built up Il
good corral for them at night, down in the
edge of the timber. One afternoon about
the Goth of the month | was sitting on some
rocks watching them. Sheep, when they
are feeding, as you know, generally keep
together, and | should think that at this
time, mine were most of them, on plot
not much more than an acre of ground.
The sky was clear, though just trine hazy:
but by and-by | noticed bit of Il cloud in
the northwest that seemed to me to be be
having i'll "A singular way. 1t appeared to
move with a kind of spasmodic motion
noticed, too, that It was rapidly growing
longer, and that it seemed to shift from
dark to 1 light green hue There was a
sort OF SleeNe or funnel-shaped trunk hanging
down from it toward the ground. The Jew
to northward from where | sat was a good
one, and | could the cloud coming
number of miles off. With every stroke of
the trunk | could see a brown cloud of dust
grass, brush and timber rise in the air, and
go whirling up into the sky. 1t was tor.
nado, and no mistake. There was quite
deep chink or hole down between two of the
rocks where | was sitting. | shut my
big umbrella dropped down into this chnk,
stretched out full length, and laid the UNI
brella over the opening in the rocks into
which had placed myself. l had hardly
more than placed myself there when it grew
dark as night and the whizzing, roaring
noise became loud as thunder l dug my
nails into the crevices OF the stones and held
on-and then, whish the tornado went over
me with a roaring shrek, rattle, shower
Of stones and dirt, and felt as if the whole
ground about me was lifted into the air.
This did not last more than half minute.
| got up out of the crevice, looked around
for my bunch of sheep | saw two of them
800 or 400 yards Off to the left running as
if panther was after them; another one,
lamb, lay kicking a little nearer. Those
We're all that | could see. l ran down to
the corrals and there found two of the sheep,
one with broken leg. They must have
been blown into it over the eight foot fence,
for had turned them all out in the morn
ing had moi, gone far when | saw a sheep
up 20 or 30 feet from the ground in the top
of apine tree-lodged there! A little farther
on | came upon one lying with broken leg
back on the ground, and shortly after saw
another lodged high up in the crotch of II
big cottonwood Before night | found Is,
nine OF them dead on the ground and six
up in the tree tops-some of these latter
kicking to get free. The next day | sailed
down three barrels of mutton and came
East to get job and earn some more
money.